The present invention is directed to a method for sensing information about the position and/or movements of the body of a living being or a part of the body inside the body.
There is a great deal of interest in methods for detecting such information not only in the field of medical technology but also in the automotive industry in particular, because inattentiveness, falling asleep at the wheel and cardiac stress caused by stressful situations are frequent causes of accidents with fatalities. For this reason, various approaches are taken to detect physiological measurement parameters such as the heart beat, breathing and the position of the body. These parameters are evaluated and, depending on the results, warning signals can be generated. This information can be used to characterize the driver's state, or as data to control the triggering of an airbag, for example.
Optical measurement methods with cameras are known in the related art for detecting the position and movements of the body. Image evaluation is difficult and requires a large amount of evaluation logic, however, which results in higher costs. In addition, it is unable to determine movements inside the body, e.g., the heart beat.
Electrocardiography is used to observe such movements inside the body, of the heart, in particular. Methods used in electrocardiography have the disadvantage, however, that they are not contactless, because electrodes must be placed on the body.
Infrared measurements are also unsuitable for the purposes stated above, due to their inaccuracy and poor resolution for observing processes inside the body.
A method of measuring the position and/or movements of the body, primarily inside the body as well, that is free from drawbacks and sufficiently free from interference, and that is desired in automotive technology in particular, has not yet been found for use outside of test conditions.